Vis Lupi Est Grex

Budget Hearings, Round 1

Today the Senate's Budget and Finance Committee begins hearings on President Reilly's budget proposal. Before the Committee spends too much valuable time considering the budget, we believe they should be working from a budget that actually complies with the law. The Committee members should also become familiar with what the law provides before they waste their time considering a noncompliant budget.

ASUN Public Law 75-52, commonly known as the Association Budget and Finance Act of 2008, contains provisions which govern what the President must include in his budget proposal. Primarily, those provisions are in section 205 of that law. That section is excerpted below (warning, it's a long section).

SEC. 205. BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO SENATE.
  (a) On or after the date of the convening of a regular session of the Senate but not later than the first Wednesday thereafter of each year, the President shall submit a budget of the Associated Students Government for the following fiscal year. Each budget shall include a budget message and summary and supporting information. The President shall include in each budget the following:
    (1) Information on activities and functions of the Government.
    (2) When practicable, information on costs and achievements of Government programs.
    (3) Other desirable classifications of information.
    (4) A reconciliation of the summary information on expenditures with proposed appropriations.
    (5) Except as provided in subsection (b), estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations the President decides are necessary to support the Government in the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted and the 2 fiscal years after that year.
    (6) Estimated receipts of the Government in the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted and the 2 fiscal years after that year under—
      (A) laws in effect when the budget is submitted; and
      (B) proposals in the budget to increase revenues.
    (7) Appropriations, expenditures, and receipts of the Government in the prior fiscal year.
    (8) Estimated expenditures and receipts, and appropriations and proposed appropriations, of the Government for the current fiscal year.
    (9) Balanced statements of the—
      (A) condition of the Treasury at the end of the prior fiscal year;
      (B) estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the current fiscal year; and
      (C) estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted if financial proposals in the budget are adopted.
    (10) Essential information about the debt of the Government, if any.
    (11) Other financial information the President decides is desirable to explain in practicable detail the financial condition of the Government.
    (12) For each proposal in the budget for legislation that would establish or expand a Government activity or function, a table showing—
      (A) the amount proposed in the budget for appropriation and for expenditure because of the proposal in the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted; and
      (B) the estimated appropriation required because of the proposal for each of the 2 fiscal years after that year that the proposal will be in effect.
    (13) An allowance for additional estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations for the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted.
    (14) An allowance for unanticipated uncontrollable expenditures for that year.
    (15) Information on estimates of appropriations for the fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted for grants, contracts, and other payments under each program for which there is an authorization of appropriations for that following fiscal year when the appropriations are authorized to be included in an appropriation law for the fiscal year before the fiscal year in which the appropriation is to be available for obligation.
    (16) A comparison of the total amount of budget outlays for the prior fiscal year, estimated in the budget submitted for that year, for each major program having relatively uncontrollable outlays with the total amount of outlays for that program in that year.
    (17) A comparison of the total amount of receipts for the prior fiscal year, estimated in the budget submitted for that year, with receipts received in that year, and for each major source of receipts, a comparison of the amount of receipts estimated in that budget with the amount of receipts from that source in that year.
    (18) An analysis and explanation of the differences between each amount compared under paragraphs (16) and (17).
    (19) A statement of budget authority, proposed budget authority, budget outlays, and proposed budget outlays, and descriptive information in terms of—
      (A) a detailed structure of needs that refers to the missions and programs of departments; and
      (B) the missions and basic programs.
  (b) Estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations for the legislative branch and the judicial branch to be included in each budget under subsection (a)(5) of this section shall be submitted to the President before March 15 of each year and included in the budget by the President without change.
  (c) The President shall recommend in the budget appropriate action to meet an estimated deficiency when the estimated receipts for the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted (under laws in effect when the budget is submitted) and the estimated amounts in the Treasury at the end of the current fiscal year available for expenditure in the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted, are less than the estimated expenditures for that year. The President shall make recommendations required by the public interest when the estimated receipts and estimated amounts in the Treasury are more than the estimated expenditures.
  (d) When the President submits a budget or supporting information about a budget, the President shall include a statement on all changes about the current fiscal year that were made before the budget or information was submitted.

Mr. President Reilly's budget, hardly surprisingly, does not come close to complying with the law. Breaking down just section 205 into its component parts and requirements, 55 categories of information (by our count, which could be argued) must be supplied in a proper budget. These are not the exclusive items that must be in a budget, but it does constitute the vast bulk of what must appear. By our review of the budget, 9 categories have been submitted.

In short, the chairman of the committee, Sean Hostmeyer, should have a short meeting this afternoon: no budget consideration until it is presented in a manner that substantially complies with the law.